Better Dead Than Red
by Selune
Summary: The morning after, and the morning after that.  Sequel to "Tall, Dark, and Deadly."


Title: Better Dead Than Red (Or: Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, But Josh Really Likes Peace and Quiet) (Or: You Don't Always Get What You Want)

Spoilers: Up to 1.4, to be safe

Pairing: Aidan/Josh, OMC/Josh

POV: Third Person limited – Josh, Aidan, & Sally

Rating: R

Warnings: Scent-marking, some general grossness, some sexual situations (dub-con or non-con). Turducken

Summary: Sequel to "Talk, Dark, and Deadly." The morning after, and the morning after that.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything, not even the prompt.

Author's note: This is dedicated to **fantasysci5** and all my other fabulous reviewers – ya'll inspired me to go to Boston, and find out what _else_ everyone's favorite werewolf & vampire were up to.

**Better Dead Than Red**

**Or: Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, But Josh Really Likes Peace and Quiet**

**Or: You Don't Always Get What You Want**

The smell of cooking meat roused Josh from his bed, and he stumbled down the stairs and into the kitchen, his nose leading the way, before his brain realized he was awake.

"You're cooking?"

Aidan was at the stove – the stove he had never touched before, except to leave his used coffee (blood) mugs on it, too lazy to move the two feet over to put them in the sink (or, God forbid, just wash them right then and there). It was disquieting.

"Did somebody die?" Josh asked. "Somebody died, didn't they?"

"No," Aidan protested (too much? Josh wondered), turning to Josh with the ladle in his hand. "No. I just wanted to. . ." He waved the ladle at Josh in a vague gesture. "Apologize, I guess, for last night."

"Oh," Josh said, collapsing in one the chairs at the kitchen table. "That's nice. It's okay, though. You don't need to apologize. I mean, you thought you were helping, and having two werewolves in the same room couldn't have been easy on you. I know how the smell gets to you." He shot Aidan a smile, hoping that could be the end of it.

It wasn't, of course. Aidan had this pensive look on his face, and he stared at Josh – like he couldn't decide whether to hug him or smack him. Josh hoped for a hug, if he chose either. He probably couldn't take a hit from Aidan – not even this close to the full moon.

"Sally told me, you know," Aidan said, turning back to the stove. "Yelled at me, actually."

"Oh," Josh said, intelligently, his face turning red. "You know it was just the adrenaline crash, right? I mean, it's not like I was actually. . ." _scared of you_, he didn't finish. "Anyway, you know we're good, right? Last night was just – well, last night was weird, I'll give you that, and I'm not really fond of having another like it any time soon, and you _so_ owe me dinner and a movie, after, you know, I didn't get to have it last night, and –"

"Eat," Aidan said, sitting a plate in front of him, mid-babble. "It's your favorite."

Josh looked at the plate. "Where did you get turducken?" he asked, hesitating before he dug in. He hated eating in front of people now that he was a werewolf – especially Aidan and Sally, who couldn't eat and seemed fascinated at his similar-to-human digestion. He, pardon the expression, _wolfed_ down all his food now (he was the werewolf – he was allowed to make these jokes), like he would die if he didn't devour an entire cow in under 30 seconds. If his mother could see him now, she would weep at his table manners, or rather, lack thereof.

"I didn't sleep," Aidan explained. When Josh raised an eyebrow (chowing down on a piece of his delicious three-kinds-of-bird-ohmygodit'ssogood breakfast), he continued. "I went shopping. At this little store. It was in. . .well, it doesn't really matter. They were open at 4am and they had the turduck-thing."

Aidan brought a bowl over and set it next to the plate. Josh moaned when he saw what it contained. "You made me gravy?" He looked at Aidan in awe, averting his gaze back to the food, when he saw Aidan's face held a similar expression (only his had nothing to do with love-love-loving fricking _turducken_, Josh was sure. He decided he would just have to live with a permanent blush.

"Yeah, well, what's turducken without gravy, right?" Aidan asked, pulling out the chair next to Josh. He put an elbow on the table and leaned in, just watching Josh eat like it was the most enchanting thing in the world.

"How did you even know how to cook this?" It wasn't exactly like the U.S. was awash in three-layered birds around the Civil War, and Aidan wouldn't exactly have a need to cook after that, since he was (un) dead and all.

"I googled it," Aidan confessed, his face almost managing a blush. "It really wasn't all that hard."

Josh put down his fork, his brow furrowing. "This isn't about what I said last night, is it?" he asked. "Because, you know, I was just joking" _stalling for time _"when I said you had to woo me. You don't need to win me over. I already chose you, didn't I?"

Aidan grabbed Josh's hand, and Josh couldn't stop the flinch. "Did you?" Aidan asked, staring at Josh's hand in his. "Or did you just say you did, so I would calm down? I wouldn't blame you, if that's what you did. I was out of control."

Josh curled his hand around Aidan's. "No, you weren't." Aidan looked at him. "Okay, maybe a bit. But it's okay. You're a vampire. You have all these," he made a roiling gesture around his chest, "_instincts_ boiling up inside you. I'm a _werewolf_. I know all about instincts you can't help acting on. The fact that you're on the wagon can't be helping things."

"I meant what I said last night," Aidan said. He looked up at Josh and caught his eyes. "You're mine."

"Yeah, okay."

Aidan jumped up, releasing Josh's hand in a violent swing. "You don't get it, do you!" he yelled, getting in Josh's face. "I'm a vampire, Josh. The things that go bump in the night, that you're mommy told you not to be afraid of, but you were, anyway? They're my _bitch_."

"Aidan," Josh started, half standing out of his chair, before being pressed back down by the weight of Aidan's glare.

"I could have killed you," Aidan said, his hand reaching out to cup Josh's jaw. "James was right. Last night, I wanted to taste you, to mark you as my own, before he could take you away_. I wanted to drink you down_." He whispered the last.

"But you didn't," Josh reminded him. Aidan needed to focus on what _did_ happen, not what could have. They both needed to. "No one even got hurt. Except maybe my pride, being fought over like some fainting damsel in a _Harlequin_ romance," he joked, weakly. It wasn't his best material.

Aidan deflated, flopping back in his seat. "You are excessively girly," he offered. "I'm surprised you even noticed the change. I mean, what with everyone with a penis wanting a piece of that sweet ass. And you do fill out a dress like only the best damsels can."

Josh laughed. "It's two guys," he reminded Aidan, counting them off on his fingers. "See? One, Jesse. Two, James."

Aidan grabbed his hand, and ticking up one more finger. "Three." His eyes smoldered at Josh like he was in a shampoo commercial – or a soap opera.

* * *

"The full moon's tonight, isn't it?" Aidan asked Josh, later that afternoon. Josh had been cautious around him all day, and it was starting to wear thin. Josh probably didn't even notice that he was doing it. Or that he kept repeating how much he _trusted_ Aidan, and that he _knew_ Aidan would never hurt him (emphasis: Josh's). He was obviously trying to overcompensate.

Aidan had been in relationships with a myriad of normal humans over the centuries, and it always turned out like this. Well, it turned out like this if his partner knew what he was, and they had half a brain and a little bit of warning before he tore into them during a bout of bloodlust. Usually, though, he at least got to have sex with them, first.

Not that Aidan was ever going to have sex with Josh. (Or rip out his throat, but that went without saying. Really.) Josh had seemed interested last night, but he must have more control over his body than Aidan thought was possible – especially for a werewolf, who were all body and physicality and emotions strung tight with a bow. To be able to affect an arousal as convincing as he had, but not want to do anything about it. . .Of course, it could be that Josh actually had been attracted to Aidan, but was now pants-shittingly terrified of him after his bonehead moves the night before.

"No, it's tomorrow," Josh said, not looking up from his Sudoku puzzle, laying spread out on the couch, like it was an impossibility that anyone else might want to use it, too. (To be fair, Sally could sit wherever she wanted, no matter if he was already occupying the space or not, and Aidan typically just moved Josh where he wanted. Normally, if Aidan wanted to sit on the couch, and Josh had dared to claim it as Josh-land in such a manner, Aidan would just pick up Josh's legs, sit down, and let his legs flop into Aidan's lap until Josh got uncomfortable enough to sit up.)

"The calendar in the kitchen's wrong," Josh explained, motioning absently with his pen. "Whoever made it should be shot. It's been wrong every moon this year. It's a good thing I can feel the change. If I relied on that thing, I would have mauled every nurse on the second floor last month."

Aidan shot him a questioning look.

"I was on the schedule for the second," Josh explained. The calendar for last month said the full moon was on the third. "I had to call in sick."

"Oh," Aidan decided to bite the bullet, and did his usual thing. Josh made a whushing sound as Aidan settled his legs on Aidan's lap. Unlike usual, he kept his hands on Josh's legs as he scooted into his spot. "That explains the mournful look on Jesse's face. He was positively bereft."

"Oh, shut up," Josh said flippantly. "I didn't even know Jesse then."

Aidan raised an eyebrow, and waited for Josh to do the calculations. He grinned when Josh was finished, and patted his leg. "Bereft. Positively," he repeated.

Josh rolled his eyes and went back to his puzzle. But he didn't move his legs.

Aidan waited a minute, absently rubbing Josh's leg under his hands. "So," he vacillated. "I owe you dinner and a movie."

"I know," Josh said. He bounced his leg and let a little squeal that he didn't think Aidan heard as he solved a particularly hard puzzle. (He thought Aidan didn't know about that little tic. But he did. Oh, yes, he did.)

"So, um," Aidan hesitated, tapping his finger at Josh's shin. Shit, he was nervous. This was weird. If he was alive, he'd be sweating. Aidan took a deep breath (that he didn't need), and spit it out. "Do you want to go, tonight? With me?"

"You mean, on a date?" Josh sounded so surprised, Aidan's head swung around to focus on his voice before the words were all the way out of Josh's mouth. Josh jumped as Aidan's quick movement jarred him, but his lips curled in a devious smile. "Well, I don't know. My schedule is just so jam-packed. Plus, I have this roommate, who just gets _crazy_ if I go out on a date alone."

"You're having me on right?" Aidan demanded.

"Oh, no," Josh said, a doe-eyed bunny look on his face. The one that told everyone he was just an innocent little boy who couldn't possibly do anything wrong – and if, by some strange twist of fate, something had gone wrong, he was just ever so sorry for the mix up and what could he do to make it better? The charge nurse fell for it every time. Aidan was not going to fall for – okay, yes he was. "Sally?"

Said ghost misted into the living room, a look of desolation on her face. "Really, Aidan?" she said, looking at him like he was the one who killed her. "You couldn't wait one more hour?"

"What?" he asked, looking between his roommates.

Sally dismissed him, turning to Josh, hands on her hips with her feet spread apart. "Well? Did you answer him, yet?"

Josh shrugged, burrowing himself into the couch.

Sally huffed, waving a hand in the air. "Get out of here," she told Josh. She turned to Aidan. "He says he'll go." She held up a hand. "On a few conditions."

Josh gave him an apologetic look before getting up from the couch and scurrying up the stairs.

Aidan's eyes followed him until he was out of sight, then lingered where he had been.

"Hey!" Sally snapped her fingers, startling Aidan. "Pay attention, this is important."

"What was that about?" Aidan asked, ignoring her. He turned back to look at the stairs.

"Don't worry about it," Sally insisted. She ghosted in front of him, obstructing his view of. . .the banister?

(What was he doing? Acting like a little school girl with a crush. And for _Josh_ of all people! The bumbling, idiotic – gorgeous, funny – _werewolf_ who attracted powerful men like he was covered in money, but couldn't hold a conversation with a – live – woman for more than a minute without metaphorically – and literally – falling on his face. _This_ is who he wanted now? Yes. Yes, it was.)

Aidan stared at her, impassive, and she twirled a piece of hair around her finger, sticking it in her mouth. She insisted it wasn't gross when she did it, because she was dead and didn't have any germs (because she didn't have any matter).

"Fine!" She stomped her foot. "It was just a little bet Josh and I had. I'm not supposed to talk about it."

"Bet?" Aidan said, his voice going low and dangerous.

She rolled her eyes. "It's not what you think," she insisted. "I bet Josh that you wouldn't ask him out until tomorrow, at the earliest, and he said that you wouldn't even last until sunset. Looks like he was right." She looked out the window, and Aidan followed her look with his eyes. The sun was just setting. "If you had only waited a few more minutes, it would have been a toss-up, and neither of us would have won."

Aidan coughed, bringing Sally's attention back to him. "Bets usually have wagers," he said, letting her fill in the blanks.

Her eyes widened, her back straightening out of her perpetual death-slouch. "Oh, it wasn't like that. Don't be a dumbass." She handwaved his concerns, and flopped down next to Aidan on the couch. And almost went through it, before she caught herself, and carefully settled just atop the surface. "Josh wouldn't do something that cruel."

"Then what was the wager, if it wasn't something like betting on my love life?"

"Your conjoined love life," she pointed out. She played with the hem of her jacket, before looking up at Aidan. "It was my idea, all right?" She huffed, twisting parallel to Aidan. "You didn't see him last night, after he went to his room. He looked – he looked really bad. He didn't want me to tell you, so if he asks, you, like, twisted my arm or something, okay?"

Aidan nodded, giving her all the reason she needed to continue.

"Okay. He was, like, shaking," she imitated a jackhammer. "Really bad. And he kept saying he was okay, but he wasn't. And I couldn't," her throat caught. "I couldn't do anything to help him."

"You sat with him," Aidan countered, mind caught up in her words. "That helped."

She wiped her cheek. "Yeah, our little prince of De Nile is just _fine_. That's why there's been absolutely no change in his behavior at all."

Aidan kept his mouth shut. He'd noticed it, too, of course. "What was the wager?" he asked again.

Sally clamped her lips shut, and for a moment, he thought she wasn't going to tell him. She jerked (was that a shrug?) and wiped her cheek, again. "If I won the bet, he had to say 'no' when you asked him out."

Aidan gaped at her, hurt beyond what he would have expected, at her betrayal. "But – "

"Not forever," she clarified. "Just on that one date. And then he couldn't go out with you for, like, a week, or something. Just to give him some time and distance. And perspective."

Aidan waited a beat. "And if he won?"

"Oh," she said, offhand, like the answer didn't matter. "Then he got to say yes, _but_ I got to lay down some ground rules."

"Oh, really?" Aidan crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow. He had been told he could be intimidating, when he wanted to be. Sally didn't seem to notice.

"Yes," she answered. "I already talked them over with Josh, and he's okay with them." Translation: she mentioned them to him when he wasn't paying attention (possibly napping?) at decibels indiscernible to human ears.

"Let's hear 'em," Aidan said, slinging his arm over the back of the couch, and laying back to be hit with some doozies.

Sally imitated him, getting comfy on her side of the couch, pulling her legs up underneath her. "First," she ticked off on her fingers, "I'm coming along, as your chaperone."

Aidan sat up, about to protest, but she swung her finger back and forth at him, like a nanny would at a naughty child. "Non-negotiable," she said. "If you don't agree, you don't get Josh."

He frowned, but motioned for her to continue.

"Well, okay, that's pretty much it," she admitted. "And, of course, if you vamp out and hurt him, I will sit in you and ride you until the day your body disintegrates. He's the only person I have to discuss Harry Potter with, and I am not losing that."

"Hufflepuff, represent!" Josh yelled from upstairs. Of course Josh could hear them – Aidan should have realized. Josh was a werewolf, and it was the day before the full moon. Josh could probably smell _Sally_ from his bedroom (and ghosts didn't actually have a smell of their own; they just kind of picked up the smell of the people they haunted).

Sally's brow furrowed. "He knows we're – " She turned around, to face the stairwell. "He knows we're Ravenclaw!" she yelled. "You get to be Slytherin," she told Aidan.

"I'm going to have to respectively decline on that," Aidan said. He had a vague idea of what Harry Potter was, but it seemed like just another fad. Like the tulip craze in Sweden (or was it France?). "On the Slyterhin thing," he clarified. "I'm still going to date Josh, so you best put your best bow in your hair and get out your striking ruler, Miss Chaperone."

Sally smirked. "That's right, bitch. Recognize."

Aidan burst out laughing. "That sounded so dumb," he told her, doubling over.

"Yeah, laugh it up," she said, ominous. "I'm going to go tell Josh that we are a go for Plan Cockblock." She leaned in. "Just in case you were wondering, I came up with the name." She cackled and misted out.

* * *

"You're being horrible to him," Josh complained, a frown on his face when Sally appeared in his room. He was folding, a task he seemed to actually enjoy.

"Nuh-uh," she countered. "I have sisters. I know what horrible is. That was merely unpleasant."

"It was mean." He fluffed a pillow on his newly made bed, fresh with new sheets and pillow cases. Sally dove into the bed, wallowing in it. She didn't even wrinkle the bedspread.

"He'll get over it," she said. "And if he doesn't, then he must not want you as much as he claimed to."

He shot a glance at her. "You just want me to be upset with Aidan, so I'll bring James over," he accused, like a mind-reader. It had to be the werewolf senses. He couldn't know her that well already, could he?

She stuck her face in his pillow, refusing to answer.

"You want this to blow up again!" He shouted. His head darted towards the closed door, and he lowered his voice. "Why don't you want me and Aidan to work out?"

"That's not it," she said, rolling over to look at him. "I just think he should have to work for it."

"The last time he had to work for it, he almost killed a man."

"The way you told it, it wasn't anywhere near that close," she said. "He didn't even touch James Whosiwhasi."

"Whittaker," Josh corrected. He thumped a pile of folded shirts on the bed next to her. "Maybe I was talking about me."

"Oh, please," she said, sitting up. "If Aidan almost killed you, you wouldn't be here right now. You're a runner, Josh. You know it, and I know it. If you had really been hurt, or if you were scared of him, you'd already be across the state line. And you'd just. Keep. Going." She drew her hand across air, imitating Runaway Josh.

His expression told her he wasn't happy with her, but he slumped down next to her. "You're right," he said. "I'm not worried."

"Bullshit," she sang, springing up from the bed when she saw the frustration in his eyes. That way lay tossed lamps (and a myriad of other household items). "Look, Josh, I said you weren't scared, not that you weren't worried. You're just not letting yourself see it. You're blinded by the light, darlin'."

"I think I'm fine."

"You said you were supposed to go on a date with this other guy, right? This super cute, _great_ smelling guy, who was really into you, and just happened to turn out to be a werewolf. Everything correct, so far?" she asked sweetly.

"Yeah," he nodded.

"And then, you're equally attractive _vampire_ best friend just all of a sudden decides he's hot for teacher, too, and that Dr. Werewolf better step off." She took two steps to the door, then turned back to walk to the other side.

"I'm not –"

"You're 'teacher' in this scenario. Just go with it."

"Okay. Given: I'm 'teacher.' Please continue."

She nodded, graciously accepting. "So, you have to choose one, or they're going to kill each other. And at first you think, 'Oh, my Jesus' – well, maybe more 'Oh my Moses' – and you get scared. And you choose the vampire, because, _hello_, best friend. But then you calm down, and get a good night's sleep. And the next day, you start to think, what if?"

"What if?" he repeated, staring at her dully, insulting her intelligence by pretending he was dumb.

"What if you chose wrong?" she said, punctuating each word with a poke at his chest (which, of course, didn't connect). "What if Dr. Werewolf is a better choice?"

Josh keened, darting glances at the door, again. "That's a dumb question," he said, frantically. "Really dumb. Dr. Werewolf? Who ever heard of such! Dr. Werewolf is obviously the inferior choice, and Aidan will prove it tonight, by being his regular, awesome self."

"If you say so," Sally shrugged. "But remember – Dr. Werewolf isn't the one who put his teeth on you."

* * *

Josh refused to think about what Sally said. If he was going to have a gay boyfriend, Aidan was the clear choice of any of Josh's current – what should he say? Suitors? That world made him gag. Prospects, maybe.

That's not to say that he _should_ have a boyfriend, though. Maybe the choice between James and Aidan (and Jesse – can't forget him) wasn't James or Aidan, but in fact, no one.

Josh remembered the look on Aidan's face last night when he had Josh up against the wall. Josh would admit (just this once, and only to himself – never, ever, ever out loud) that it had scared him. Not because he thought Aidan would hurt him. Except for the understandable fleeting terror any mouse would feel when caught by a hungry cat, Josh had known that Aidan wouldn't harm a hair on his head.

Josh's fear came from the intensity in Aidan's eyes, focused on him like a laser beam. No one had ever looked at him like that – except James, when he'd said he wanted to fuck Josh, not kill him.

Since James had the same look as Aidan (or similar enough for there to be no functional difference), the look couldn't be one of love. It was possession – possessive tendencies brought about by their monsters. Both of them had looked at Josh like he was theirs – and theirs alone. Thus, the inevitable explosion when they all three got together, and Aidan and James recognized each other as rivals.

Josh couldn't give in to that look, because if he did, he was saying the monsters won. It hadn't been _Aidan_ saying he wanted Josh last night – it had been Aidan's bloodlust, the dark side of his nature. Aidan was more joined with his monster than Josh was (on account of being a vampire 24/7, instead of one night out of the month), but even so, that look had been pure vampire, with none of Aidan's more human person in it.

Josh didn't know James enough to account for his relationship with his wolf, but if he was anything like Josh, he kept it to a (distant) working acquaintanceship. Which would make the look he gave Josh all the more frightening, with the werewolf right on the surface of everything he was days before the full moon took place.

"Hey, Sally," he called, hanging onto his door frame.

She misted in front of him. "Yeah?" she said, her jacket billowing out behind her.

"Can you tell Aidan I'm going out, and I'll be back in an hour or two to go to dinner?"

"Why not tell him your –oh," she smiled. "Sure, I'll give him the message. Have fun."

* * *

He nodded and grabbed his jacket, running down the stairs.

Josh cursed his stupidity. He had no idea where James lived, and he'd left his phone at home, so he couldn't even call and ask.

"This was a dumb idea," he said, ruffling his hair. He didn't know what he was doing. Sally was just trying to stir up trouble. Maybe not on purpose, but she was a ghost, and she got bored easily. She just wanted some drama to help pass the time, never mind that it was Josh's _life_ that was providing her entertainment.

Aidan was the guy for him. There was no reason to seek out James. Even just to talk. He would just go home.

After checking out one last place.

Josh jogged to the hospital. It was a little farther away than a human would be comfortable running to, but Josh did it easily. He would just do a quick check at the front desk, to see if James was on shift. He probably wouldn't be – but Josh could having honestly tried.

And then he'd go home to Aidan. And they'd have their first date. And maybe their first kiss. But certainly no more. Josh may have been joking about the wooing thing, but he was dead serious about waiting to have sex. It had been awhile for Josh – and Aidan was a bit of a slut. If Josh slept with him, he was damned well going to be more than just another notch on the bedpost.

"Hey, Carolyn," Josh panted, more winded than he'd thought. He stopped and took a minute to get his breathing under control, then shook himself and tried again. "Do you know if Dr. Whittaker is on duty tonight?"

The charge nurse shook her head. "No, sweetie, he's not. He was on call, but he called in sick." She waved for him to come forward. "Are you okay? You look a little peaky – maybe you're coming down with whatever he has."

Josh waved her off. "I'm fine," he said. But he didn't feel fine. He felt like – _no_. It couldn't be. That calendar was _wrong_. It hadn't been right all year. Josh's senses were the thing to trust, and they'd told him. . .They hadn't even told him when he was standing nose-to-nose with another werewolf.

Josh's stomach rippled, and he cried out, hunching over to hold it in.

"Sweetheart?" Carolyn asked, coming around the desk to check on him.

"No!" he shouted, throwing a hand up to ward her off. "I mean, don't worry about it. I'm fine. Just a –" Another scream as a bolt of pain shot through him. "Just a touch of the flu. I think I'm going to go home now."

He ran out before she could say anything to stop him. The change was coming, and it was coming now. How had he messed this up? The change was his one constant in his new life. How had he missed the signs?

Shit – no time to worry about it, now. And no time to get out to his usual haunt. He had to get to his old room, before he changed and hurt – killed – someone.

He doubled back, running in a different door, quickly taking the route down to the condemned part of the building, which was "set to be renovated." It took him forever to reach (each second ticking off like an hour, each hour an eternity in which he could permanently ruin an innocent person's life).

Seeing the steel door was like seeing the pearly gates after a life spent whoring and murdering puppies – an impossible miracle. He pushed the door open in one swoop, and shoved it shut just as quick. Once the door was in place, and everyone outside was safe from him, he ripped his shirt off. He heard a, "Josh?" from the corner, as he started on his belt, and an icy feeling ran down his back.

He turned slowly, horror in his eyes, as he remembered the last time someone had been locked in this room with him. This time, he didn't have his phone to call Aidan to come rescue him (them).

"I thought you might turn up here," James said, striding forward. He was already naked, and Josh removed his hand from his belt buckle. "Your smell is all over this room." He took a big whiff, and exhaled with visible pleasure, like the stink of Josh's sweat and musk was the finest ambrosia.

Josh backed up against the wall and had the brief thought that this time, someone wasn't locked up with him, _he_ was locked up with _someone else._ Someone bigger and stronger, who was swiftly becoming aroused.

Josh tore his eyes away from James's. . .package, and focused on his face. "I come here sometimes, for the full moon," he explained. "Aidan found it for me. How did you get here?"

James shrugged. "I was lonely – and upset – when I left your place last night, so I came to the hospital to smell you. You're all over this place. I picked up a trail that led me here."

Josh nodded. "That makes sense, I guess." Which didn't make it any less creepy.

"You're not going to stay like that, are you?" James asked, referencing Josh's half-dressed state. "You'll ruin your clothes, and have nothing to wear home tomorrow."

"Uh, yeah," Josh stammered. "Can you turn around? I'm not all that comfortable being naked around other people."

James acquiesced easily, turning to face the opposite wall. Josh made quick work of his belt, jeans and shoes, but decided to keep his underwear on. He would rather walk home commando tomorrow than be completely naked right now.

"Is this your first time changing with a partner?" James asked. Josh swore that a shudder went down his back when Josh stepped out of his clothes, almost as naked as the day he was born.

"Yeah," Josh answered, after a long pause. "I've always been alone before."

"That is the saddest thing I've ever heard." Josh's hackles raised at the implied insult, but then James continued. "To think, that someone like you has been forced into a life this lonely. I want to slaughter the werewolf who bit you, but at the same time, I can only be grateful to him, because if you weren't like me, we never would have met."

What a load of bull, Josh thought. Did he read that from the back of a cereal box? Josh wasn't falling for his kind words, and sweet disposition, and rock hard body (and why didn't he want James, again?).

James turned to face Josh – without permission! – and held up his hands. "I promise I won't bite, unless you want me to." He sat on the floor, dropping his head below Josh's, which made Josh feel better – more in charge of the situation.

Josh cross his arms and stood with his feet apart in the center of the room. He wanted to sit, too, but if he did that would put him lower than James, and he didn't want that.

"Sit," James said. "It makes the change easier."

Josh knew that – the lower to the ground he was, the easier the fall – but he couldn't. Not with James in the room, being all smarmy and gorgeous and like Josh and not_ Aidan_. As if sensing Josh's reason for standing, James lay down, putting his head level with the ground. Josh took that as the concession it was, and sat down.

"So," Josh said, never being uncomfortable with long silences.

"So," James agreed.

"This is – awkward."

"We could fuck the tension away," James suggested, catching Josh's eye.

Josh looked away. He played with some piece of detritus he found on the floor. "I don't think so," he said. "I'm going to date Aidan. He's going to be pissed at me when he finds out I spent the night with you – even if it was as a four-legged animal."

"That might even make it worse," James offered, "since it means I share something with you that he never can."

Josh hugged his knees. "That doesn't exactly make me feel better."

James rolled into a sitting position, and Josh immediately straightened. He didn't know why, but he felt that he was safe if he was taller than James – but only if he was taller. The minute James's head went higher than his, he would be vulnerable. James would be free to do whatever he wanted to Josh's body, and there would be nothing Josh could do to stop him.

"It wasn't meant to," James snarled.

Josh forced himself not to flinch back from James's anger. He had done nothing wrong – if James had a problem with him, that was his own prerogative. Josh could do what he wanted, date who he wanted, fuck who he wanted.

"Shit!" James cursed, dropping his head below Josh's. "I'm fucking this up, aren't I?"

Josh reached out a hand, and let it drop onto James's head. He wasn't sure why. "It's okay," he said. James pushed his head into Josh's hand, like a puppy begging for pettings.

"I really like you," James whispered. "You're everything I've been looking for since I was attacked. I want you so bad it hurts."

Josh's eyes dropped to James's crotch. James was telling the truth – he was so swollen it had to be painful. "I'm not – I can't –"

"It's okay," James said. "Just, stay with me, like this. Keep touching me."

Josh almost snatched his hand back, but forced it to stay on James. The change was usually a painfully lonely time. Full of fear – that he would hurt someone, or himself, of the pain of the transformation itself, which always seemed so much worse than he remembered.

"Here it comes," James said.

Josh opened his mouth to protest, but then he felt it. The moon was rising, and so were their beasts.

"I'm sorry," James said. "Whatever I do, please forgive me." He jumped on Josh, forcing their mouths together – their first kiss – and Josh howled, his claws ripping out of his hands.

Josh fell backwards, James covering him. His back arched and _twisted_ as his spinal column changed shape and size. He screamed, and James screamed with him. James somehow kept his lips pressed to Josh even through their screams. The pain heightened and focused, everywhere – except where the two of them touched. Their lips, Josh's arms where James gripped him, their bellies where James pressed against him – they felt glorious, like the beast transforming back into the handsome prince, with the beautiful princess at his side and love in his heart.

Josh howled, again, and gave himself over to the transformation.

* * *

It took longer than usual for Josh to wake up the next morning. He ached – just everywhere. Everything hurt, and he was laying half on concrete, and half on something else. Something soft. He peaked open an eye, staring in bleary confusion before the world came into focus.

He was sleeping with James. _On_ James. Josh wasn't sure anyone (Aidan) would believe the distinction. Especially not with the smell of semen pungent in the air.

James was already awake. He stared at Josh, unblinking. He had a hand in Josh's hair, petting him – trying to soothe him back to sleep.

Josh shook the hand off, and raised up on his arm. "What happened?"

"I'm really sorry," James said, dropping a kiss onto Josh's head – which didn't strike Josh as a very apologetic thing to do to someone who had a boyfriend (well, who maybe, kind of, sort of, was going to start something up with another guy). "I wouldn't have done it like this, if I'd had a choice."

"What?" Josh said, jerking back. This smell caught in his throat, and he gagged. "What the hell?" he yelled, looking down at himself. He was covered – literally, just slathered – in cum and – and this was worse – piss. "You _peed_ on me! Gross!"

"You said you would forgive me!" James said. "Last night, you said you would forgive me! I can't help what the wolf does. You know that!"

Josh jumped to his feet, holding his hands away from his body. He took another look down at his stomach, and almost cried. "This is, by far, the nastiest, most disgusting thing that has ever happened to me," he whined. "I think I hate you, right now."

He looked behind himself, and saw the. . .no, he wasn't even going to name it. He was covered in _gunk_. That was it, and nothing else. He just needed to call Aidan to come get him out, and then he could go home and shower for about eight years. And then he could buy a sandblaster and exfoliate his skin. And then he could get skin grafts. After those healed, _then_ he might be clean. Maybe.

"I don't have my phone," he cried, even more horror dawning on him. "We can't get out of here."

He collapsed onto the hard concrete floor, barely even feeling the jarring shoot up his spine, so that anything that hadn't been aching sufficiently would kick it into high gear. He stared dully ahead, not responding when James tried talking to him.

"I am covered in – gunk,"(_spunk)_ he said, "and I'm trapped in a cell with the person who peed on me."

James whined, dropping down to rub his head against Josh's throat.

Josh pushed him away. "Don't you think I have enough of your scent on me?"

James licked his neck. "I'm so sorry," he repeated. "How can I make it up to you? What can I do?"

"Nothing, unless you can get Aidan here, with a change of clothes and a ride home."

James nodded, licked Josh one last time, and went over to the corner he'd been hiding in when Josh ran into the cell last night. He pulled a phone out from under a pile of what Josh had assumed to be random trash. He dialed a number, and held it up to his ear. Josh heard it ring, and someone pick up at the other end.

"Josh is with me," James said. "In his room at the hospital." He hung up without saying anything else – like _bring Josh new clothes and a sandblaster_.

"How do you know Aidan's number?" Josh asked. He would recognize Aidan's voice, no matter how small and tinny it sounded from the wrong end of a cheap phone.

"Stole it from your contacts list," James answered.

Josh didn't even want to know when James had his hands on Josh's phone. "After I leave this cell, I don't ever want to see you again," Josh said, matter of fact. "I don't want to hear your name, and I definitely don't ever want to smell you again."

"You reeked of vampire," James tried to explain, but Josh wasn't having it.

"I'd rather smell like vampire than werewolf pee and . . .stuff. That is preferable, on the whole. So, never again. Not ever. After this, I want to forget I even knew your name."

* * *

Aidan and Sally were fighting when the call came, as they had been all night long. Aidan felt Sally should have told him as soon as Josh left – apparently, to go see that _freaking werewolf scumbag, who would die horribly, gruesomely, and in agonizing pain as soon as Aidan got within fang's reach of him._

Sally felt that she hadn't died soon enough – or gruesomely enough – and was actively campaigning for a do-over.

"Aidan, I'm sorry," she said. "But Josh is a big boy, and he can take care of himself. He must have a reason for going to James. Maybe he was going to let him down gently." Aidan almost, almost forgave her, until she ruined it by saying, "Not likely," under her breath.

You would think she would have learned by now that vampires – like werewolves – have very sensitive ears.

Aidan's phone rang, and he almost didn't answer it. Calls from strange numbers were usually Bishop or one of his lackeys, and Aidan just did not feel like dealing with them at the moment. When he remembered that Josh hadn't taken his phone with him when he left, Aidan answered it. It could be Josh, using someone else's cell, calling Aidan to come pick him up.

The call was not from Josh. The other person spoke briefly and hung up. Aidan very calmly punched a hole in the wall, and got his keys.

"He was with James, all night, in the cell that Josh stays in during the full moon," he said to Sally. Josh was wrong about the full moon – it had been last night. "I'm going to go get him."

* * *

Josh sat near the door, ready to spring up and out as soon as Aidan rescued him from this prison. He had put his clothes back on – they would need to be burned as soon as he got home. Josh was just glad that he hadn't changed into his date clothes, before he left the house last night.

James was sulking in his corner, a pout on his face that made Josh want to smack him. (Okay – Josh already wanted to smack him. The pout made him want to hit harder.)

"I'm sorry I peed on you," James moped, looking at Josh with a mournful expression. Yesterday, Josh would have been taken in with it. But not today. Oh, no, not today.

"And the phone?"

"Yeah – and that."

Josh had wanted to call Aidan back, after James's too-brief phone call to let him know where Josh was. James had taken offense at this, and hurled the phone across the room. It landed in a few too many pieces to be of much use to either of them.

"That didn't have anything to do with the werewolf, now did it?" Josh said. Maybe it did – Josh felt like throwing something, too.

"No, it didn't," James confessed. "I'm sorry. I just got so mad –"

"So mad that you thought throwing something at my head was a good idea?" Josh paused, to let that sink in. "I don't know how I ever thought Aidan would be a better boyfriend than you. Maybe you could teach him the fine art of showing affection through personal humiliation and domestic violence, once he gets here. _That_ would be fun." Josh held himself so tense, he vibrated.

James huffed. "Well, I can see you're going to be completely unreasonable. You know as well as I do, the power the wolf holds over you."

"I keep it under control," Josh insisted. "_I_ –"

"Bow down to every dominant male who comes close enough to lick your crotch," James finished. He rolled onto his knees and stood up, towering over Josh. "It's easier for you than it is for me. I'm an _alpha_ wolf. I'm meant to have a pack – and a mate. I need someone to protect and be mine. You – you're just you. If there's someone there to take care of you, fine, great. If not, that's fine, too."

James's scent strong, now – pungent. He was getting angry. "You are the _only_ other werewolf I've met in 15 years who hasn't tried to kill me. The _only_ one – the only person – I've wanted since I was attacked. And you're going to choose a _vampire_ over me? Look at me!" He roared, grabbing Josh by the arms and dragging him up.

Josh looked at the floor, forcing his body to still, trying to be as implacable as Aidan would in this situation. He didn't answer James – he wouldn't. No matter what he said, James would take it as a reason to attack.

Josh hadn't realized before, but he did now. James was crazy. Certifiable. He should be locked up (which – hey! – he was, isn't that magnificent? – now let's get out of here). Josh hoped Aidan got there soon.

Josh hoped Aidan was actually coming, and that James hadn't just pretended to call him. Josh _thought_ he heard Aidan's voice on the other end of the call, but he could have been wrong. And even if it had been Aidan, he might decide to just let Josh rot in this cell, after he ran off to go see another man.

"Are you going to answer, or are you just going to ignore me?" James demanded. When Josh didn't answer, he grabbed Josh's hair, jerking his head to the side and exposing his neck. He paused, looking at Josh, before diving in. He licked Josh, in a cruel mirror to Aidan's actions the other night.

The main difference? Even when Aidan was vamped out with Josh locked in his embrace, chewing at Josh's skin, he didn't hurt him. Josh's head ached where James ripped at his hair. Pain bloomed in his throat as James sucked on him.

"Stop," he said, pushing at James's chest. Unlike Aidan, he could move James back – but just a little. If he pushed too hard, he knew it would come to a fight. Josh wasn't completely certain that he would lose in a real fight between them – but it would be a pyrrhic victory for Josh if he didn't.

James growled at Josh, taking his hands and shoving it over their heads. "You're _mine_," he growled. "You're _my kind_, not his, so you belong to _me_."

If this had been Aidan, Josh would have – _could_ have – argued, and been secure in the knowledge that he wouldn't been hurt. James wasn't Aidan, though, and he seemed like, not only _would_ he hurt Josh, but that he wanted to.

"I don't want to do this," Josh said, and James's eyes flashed with anger. "Here," Josh finished. "I don't want to do this – here." Josh tried to give him a smile. "It's dirty and uncomfortable, right? I like to have a bed, when I'm going to be being. . .ravished, right? Are you with me?"

James shoved his head into Josh's neck, rubbing. "If I don't take you now, your vampire will take you away from me when he gets here."

So James actually did call Aidan! That was good to know. But then, what was taking Aidan so long? They didn't live that far from the hospital. Maybe Aidan had been coming, but then couldn't make it? What if he ran into Bishop on the way in, and gave in to his bloodlust, and was going back to the vampires?

"I think he only wanted me because you did," Josh said, and was shocked to find that it rang true. Aidan had never expressed any kind of interest in him – not like that, anyway – until another supernatural showed up on their doorstep, ready and willing to spirit Josh away. Josh didn't think Aidan was lying about wanting Josh – not exactly – but maybe he had confused jealousy over a friend as wanting to fuck Josh like a dog in heat. "He'll probably act all jealous and possessive when" _if_ "he gets here – but only because I'm covered in your scent."

"But he'll take you _away_, and I won't be able to see you or smell you," James whined.

Josh decided he should just lay all his cards on the table. "Maybe," Josh agreed, and grunted when James tightened his grip. "But if you don't let me go right now, it doesn't matter what Aidan does, because as soon as we leave this room, I will leave. And you will never. Ever. See me. Again."

James whine, and Josh continued. "You're stronger than me – we both know it. And we both know that you could force yourself on me, and there wouldn't be much I could do about it. Not now. Not in this room. Not alone with you pinning me to the wall."

James buried his head in Josh's neck, and Josh allowed his neck to turn up, exposed. This actually seemed to be working – James was calming down.

"And if you did," he didn't say the word, "right now, it would be the last time you ever touched me. I could never be with someone who would – that." He didn't mention that James wouldn't have the capability of touching anyone again if he – thatted – because Aidan would rip his hands off. Once he got here. Which should be any minute, now.

* * *

Aidan was going to bite the next person who interrupted him, and spray their blood across the hospital walls. _And he wouldn't even stop to drink it._

Traffic had been horrific on the way to the hospital – especially for a just a little past dawn on a Saturday morning. He needed to get to Josh – it had been too long since that phone call, and the phone call too short. And who knew how long that bastard James waited before calling?

One of his work friends saw him and called out – something about getting a beer later – but Aidan barreled past, almost knocking him down. He needed to be where Josh was. Right now.

It only took him a couple of minutes to descend the stairs and make his way to the room he had first shown Josh only a few short months ago, but it felt longer. Aidan paused as he reached the door. What would he find on the other side, when he opened it? Would Josh be happy to see him? Would James fly at him, teeth ready to rip into his throat?

What if they were fucking? Aidan couldn't hear anything, but they could just be really quiet. The steel of the door was practically soundproof – even to a vampire. If they _were_ fucking, Aidan didn't think he would be able to stop himself from killing the other werewolf – and hurting Josh. He would definitely have to hurt Josh, somehow, if he was fucking some other guy. Because Aidan couldn't let him do that and just get away with it.

They probably weren't fucking. Josh wouldn't do that to Aidan. Hell, Josh wouldn't do that to _himself_ – Aidan doubted they had any lube in there, and if they did, there certainly wasn't a bed or anything.

Comforted by this thought, Aidan opened the door, and his vision went red.

He hadn't even considered the possibility that James would do this. Aidan knew James was an animal – but he hadn't realized what a monster he was until just then.

James had Josh pinned against the wall, his hands over his head. Aidan could smell Josh from the door – he reeked, covered in James's scent. And bodily fluids. There was no way Josh _let_ James. . .pee on him, and possibly other things.

It took Aidan two steps to reach them, and when he did, he pried James's fingers from Josh's wrists, as painfully as he could (satisfying only part of his desire to hurt this man when he heard the _crack_ of the fingers breaking), and tossed him away from Josh.

Josh stared in horror at James for a moment, before jumping into Aidan's arms. "Oh, thank god you came! I thought I was going to have to smell like this forever!" He wrinkled his nose and took a step back (or, tried to – Aidan didn't let him go that easily). "I'm sorry; I just got his stink all over you. Can we go home now? I need a shower, and new clothes . . . and quite possibly a new epidermis, after I get through with the shower." Josh laughed.

Aidan didn't.

Josh's laughter died in his throat, his eyes dropping to the floor. "Thank you for coming," he said again. "I'm really sorry about. . ."

He let the sentence hang there, and Aidan put a finger on his chin, to draw his gaze up to Aidan's eyes. "Are you okay?" Josh nodded. "Did he hurt you?" A shake of the head. "That's all I need to know, for now." He let go of Josh, and turned to make sure that he hadn't killed James when he threw him.

"Aidan," Josh said, his voice broken. Josh's hand grabbed at Aidan's arm, and Aidan let himself be moved so they were face-to-face. "Aidan," Josh repeated.

"Josh," Aidan said, a trace of amusement in his voice. All amusement died just a second later, when Josh grabbed his face, and swooped in for a kiss.

Josh kissed like he was drowning, and only Aidan's breath could save him. He kissed with his whole body, pressed himself head to toe against Aidan, and Aidan could fell a tingling where they touched. For the first time in a long time, Aidan felt like he was being devoured, from the inside out.

Aidan grabbed Josh's arms to steady himself – and to devour back – and that seemed to signal something in Josh, who pressed two soft kisses against Aidan's lips and stepped back, a blush on his face.

"Sorry," he said, rubbing a hand on the back of his neck.

Aidan made a noise, low in his throat, and Josh startled. "What?" he asked.

"I was just thinking, if a kiss with you is almost as good as sex, what is sex going to be like?" Aidan said, more casually than he felt. "It's a good thing I'm already dead, or I might not survive it."


End file.
